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Pia Toscano to Present Anthem

Homestead-Miami Speedway today announced that American Idol finalist Pia Toscano will sing the National Anthem prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Ford 400 race on Sunday, November 20. Track President Matthew Becherer made the announcement.

The 19/Interscope recording artist just completed the American Idol Live Tour and is currently putting the finishing touches on her debut album, scheduled for release early next year. Toscano has opened for the Barenaked Ladies and performed with Josh Groban at Madison Square Garden.

“I am so excited and honored to sing the National Anthem at the NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series Championship race - the Ford 400,” said Toscano.

“It’s fitting that an entertainer of Pia’s caliber presents the Anthem at NASCAR’s Championship race,” said Becherer. “We are excited and confident that it will be a rendition that fans at the track and those tuning in worldwide will enjoy.”

More About Pia Toscano:19/Interscope recording artist and American Idol finalist, Pia Toscano, began her singing career appearing in talent shows when she was four, was the official National Anthem singer at her middle school, and performed at every event including graduation.

Widely considered one of American Idol’s Season 10 frontrunners thanks to her powerhouse vocal ability and dark-haired beauty, Pia‘s early elimination shocked and visibly upset judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler. The latter said of the voting public: “They’re wrong. I don’t know what happened with this. She’s beautiful. When she sings, she’s a bird.” Outraged fans took to Twitter to express their support, including celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Jennifer Hudson, Ellen DeGeneres, Alyssa Milano, Dax Shepard, Marlon Wayons, and Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher phoned in to “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” to opine: “I think she was probably the best pure singer on the show, and she’s got all the makings of what it means to be a star in my opinion, so I was just irked [when she was voted off].”